In addition to his personal interests as a player and
fan, Prince Albert has a long history with the
International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum. In 1954, his
mother, Princess Grace, participated in the ribbon
cutting ceremony for the Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode
Island in the United States. In 2004, Prince Albert
traveled to Newport to serve as Master of Ceremony for
the 50th anniversary celebration, which featured the
Hall of Fame induction of Stefanie Graf and Stefan
Edberg, and a gathering of all of the living Hall of
Famers, including tennis luminaries such as Rod Laver,
Virginia Wade, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and
John McEnroe, among others. Prince Albert has served on
the Board of Directors for the Hall of Fame, a
non-profit institution dedicated to honoring the
greatest legends of tennis and preserving the history of
the sport.

Also participating in the ring presentation was
International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum Chairman
Christopher E. Clouser and CEO Mark L. Stenning, and
Zeljko Franulovic, Director of the Monte-Carlo Rolex
Masters.

"We are grateful to His Serene Highness Prince Albert II
of Monaco and our colleagues at the Monte-Carlo Rolex
Masters for partnering with us on this special
occasion," said Clouser. "It was a wonderful opportunity
to celebrate the extraordinary careers of these Hall of
Famers in Europe, where they have so many fans and have
left such a positive impact on the sport. As Hall of
Famers, Ilie, Frankie, Nicola, and Gianni are already
among an elite group of athletes. We are pleased to be
able to recognize their achievements once more with this
special ring, which only the most successful and
influential individuals in tennis will have the honor of
wearing."

ith 102 titles to his name, former world No. 1 Ilie
Nastase of Romania is one of just five players in tennis
history to have won more than 100 titles (57 in singles
and 45 in doubles). Nastase was a world top-10 player
from 1973-1978 and held the world No. 1 ranking from
August 1973-June 1974. He captured seven major titles,
including both singles and doubles titles at the French
and US Opens, as well as a doubles title and two mixed
doubles titles at Wimbledon. Nastase had a remarkable
record at the year-end championships as well, winning
four Masters Grand Prix year-end championship titles and
seven Championship Series titles (1970-73), the
precursors to the current Masters 1000. Nastase
represented Romania in Davis Cup from the 1960s-1980s,
leading the team to the finals three times. Widely
regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all
time, Nastase was inducted to the International Tennis
Hall of Fame in 1991.

As a competitor heralded for her remarkable tactical
ability and ball control, Françoise Durr of France
captured 26 career singles titles and 60 career doubles
titles. For more than a decade in the 1960s and 1970s,
she was ranked among the top-ten in the world. Durr
reached a total of 27 major finals in singles, doubles
and mixed and won 12 major titles. She was the 1967
Roland Garros champion, and earned all her other major
titles in doubles and mixed doubles. Durr was a
long-time Fed Cup player for France, representing the
team for 14 years (1963-67, 1970, 1972-79) and compiling
a record of 31-17. She was the captain of the French Fed
Cup team from 1993 through 1996 and the co-captain of
the team with fellow French tennis great Yannick Noah in
1997, when they won the competition. Durr received the
WTA Tour's Honorary Membership Award in 1988 for her
contributions to the founding, development, and
direction of women's professional tennis. In April 2010,
she received the medal and title of Officer of the
National Order of Merit, a national honor in recognition
of her contribution to sport and the advancement of
women in sport. Durr was inducted to the International
Tennis Hall of Fame in 2003.

Heralded as Italy's best tennis player, Nicola
Pietrangeli had a lengthy career, highlighted by
capturing two Roland Garros titles (1959, 1960) and
proudly representing Italy for eighteen years in Davis
Cup play (1954-1969, 1971-72). During Pietrangeli's
Davis Cup career, he played a record 164 rubbers,
winning 120. To this day, he holds the records for the
most rubbers played and the most rubbers won.
Pietrangeli helped to lead the team to the finals twice
during his career (1960, 1961), both times being
overcome by Australia for the title. Upon retirement,
Pietrangeli became Davis Cup captain, and in 1976, under
his leadership, Italy won their first ever Davis Cup
title. In addition to his singles victories, Pietrangeli
was a finalist at Roland Garros two other times, and he
captured the doubles title at Roland Garros in 1959 and
the mixed doubles title in 1958. Pietrangeli was
inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in
1986.

Acclaimed tennis author, columnist, and broadcaster,
Gianni Clerici has covered the sport for more than 40
years. As a sports reporter, he has written over 6,000
articles, mostly about tennis. Clerici was honored as
the Best Italian Sports Columnist in 1992, and Italian
Playwright of the Year in 1987. His premier book is 500
Anni di Tennis, which has been translated into French,
German, Japanese, Spanish, and English (as The Ultimate
Tennis Book). In addition, he wrote a biography about
Hall of Famer Suzanne Lenglen, which is the considered
the definitive biography of the French tennis star's
life. In recognition of his immense contributions to the
sport, Clerici was inducted to the International Tennis
Hall of Fame in 2006.